The Clinical Research Center at the University of Texas Medical Branch is a separate unit of 10 beds with an adjoining research laboratory area all contained within the main teaching hospital of the medical school complex. This unit functions as a multi-disciplinary human research resource center for the Departments of Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Surgery, OB-Gyn and Psychiatry. In addition, many of the research projects are initiated in collaboration with faculty from the Basic Sciences. The major human research projects at this institution include the study of immune deficiency in children, cancer chemotherapy, hypertension, genetic role in drug metabolism, gastrointestinal hormone physiology, the management of morbid obesity and treatment of aplastic anemia. Clinical investigator initiated projects are designed and performed in collaboration with CRC personnel as well as with physicians in training. This CRC presently has 64 active research projects and approves about 20 newly designed projects each year through a multi-committee review process that evaluates scientific merit, cost-benefit ratio, logistical feasibility, and ethical value. The proposed research to be performed in this CRC continues to be directed not only toward the elucidation of new disease processes but also toward the application of improved methods of disease management and in the training of biomedical investigators.